Sealed
by Ranma-Yasha
Summary: What would have happened if naruto had died at the valley of the end fighting Sasuke? what revelations would be made to the villagers and gennin of konoha? And where would naruto have gone after his death or more importantly how will he escape? AU
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Naruto and I'm not making money from this...but I wish I did.

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The valley of the end. It could only be described as irony or perhaps poetic justice that fate would lead them here of all places to battle. Sasuke, who fought only to prove his strength and to supersede the "weakness" that leaving any ties un-severed would bring him. He fought only for himself, for power, for revenge. Anything that could make him strong enough to defeat his elder brother, no matter what despicable deeds he had to commit to gain it, murder, betrayal, he'd even let that baleful snake Orochimaru possess his body.

Naruto fought only for his precious people, those select few whom he had let into his heart, after a life of loneliness being seen only as a monster, for no just cause. He would do anything for his friends, his loved ones, and his Hokage, and perhaps most of all to uphold his Nindo. He damn sure was not going to let the same man who took away his Hokage, the one man who acknowledged, and understood him his whole life, take away the rest of his family.

"DAMN YOU SASUKE! DON'T BE A FOOL! OROCHIMARU WON'T HELP YOU BECOME STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEAT YOUR BROTHER, HOW COULD HE WHEN ITACHI IS STRONGER THAN HIM! HE JUST NEEDS YOUR BODY, YOUR GODDAMN EYES!" Naruto proclaimed with furious anger.

Sasuke grimaced, "You don't know nothing Naruto, you're nothing more to me than a tie, a loose end that needs to be cut, to gain true power! True power that comes only from fighting for yourself, without having weaklings like you and Sakura to slow me down!" he spat.

Naruto growled, "Damn it Sasuke you know that's not true! You _know_ that's not true! You remember just as well as I do, from the bridge when we fought Haku! If my life weren't in danger your Sharingan never would have awoken! Do you know why that is, Sasuke! It's because true strength comes from the need to help and protect those who are precious Sasuke! Don't tell me you forgot that! Don't tell me the Sasuke we all know and care for has died!"

Naruto stood erect and closed his eyes holding his arms out to his sides. "If you really think you have what it takes, then kill me now! Prove to me that the Sasuke I promised to bring back to Konoha is really gone!" he said in a last ditch effort to pull Sasuke back to his senses.

If Naruto didn't have his eyes shut he would have seen Sasuke's face go through a full spectrum of emotion before hardening into façade of pure anger. Sasuke took a few steps forward and prepared for the Chidori, hesitating. He hardened his resolve, remembering his intent, this was what he had to do to succeed in his ambition, to kill Itachi. He took a deep breath as he made the last seal. "…You're wrong Naruto because…I…BECAUSE I REFUSE…TO BE WEAK LIKE YOU!" he yelled half heartedly as he charged Naruto with the Chidori in his right hand.

Naruto opened his eyes as he felt the splitting pain in his chest. He looked down at the arm protruding from the dead center of his chest, and followed it to the cold eyes of their owner. He realized then that this really wasn't the same Sasuke he once knew, the man before him, was a true monster. He felt as the blood began to come up through his throat and drain out of his mouth but spoke none the less "S-Sasuke…You…," He felt the betrayal, the anger the sense of failure that he failed in his promise to Sakura and most of all that he let his old friend become this.

"I-I curse you…Uchiha…that you will n-never defeat your brother…and people will s-see you…as you really are…the same way…that they…once saw me…" Naruto murmured out between coughs of blood. Sasuke laid Naruto down on the ground shaken, as Naruto felt the life leave his body and deaths cold hands reach ever closer. He closed his eyes, and let his body go limp, to die, to sleep, no more.

Sasuke shivered a little as tears streamed down from his eyes "N-Naruto…" he said softly, as he lightly shook the boy trying in vain to wake him from his eternal rest. He hadn't even noticed that it had begun to rain.

Kakashi came running up in a matter of moments, "Thank God I got here in time! Sasuke! Naruto!" Sasuke turned his head slowly and looked directly into Kakashi's eyes sullenly. Kakashi looked curious until he noticed that both of the boys clothes were soaked red with blood and the still growing crimson pool that lay under the body of Naruto. Kakashi ran up and pushed Sasuke out of the way to see Naruto and was sickened by the sight._ Naruto! This is all my fault! If I hadn't been so careless and taught Sasuke such a powerful technique. I should have realized that the darkness would consume him. Naruto, I'm sorry, I neglected you and Sakura in favor of Sasuke. I've failed you and I have failed the dyeing wishes of two Hokages. I hope at least that you can be at peace now._

Kakashi pulled Naruto into a tight embrace before putting him down gently. He turned his head and glared at a stunned, saddened Sasuke. "Sasuke! Why? Why would you do this to Naruto!" he yelled angrily. Sasuke seemed to disturbed to even speak he jus t opened his mouth although no words came out.

Kakashi picked up the body of Naruto, and Glared at Sasuke, "We're going back to Konoha. It's your choice if you want to walk there with me or if you want me to carry your bloody carcass back as well!" He stated.

They had reached the gates of Konoha within the hour, where saw an anxious Sakura waiting, and cheering upon seeing Sasuke. When they got up close enough, Sakura stopped her celebrating as she gazed upon the dead body of her former teammate "NARUTO! W-what happened!" she screamed her voice starting to crack and tears starting to leak from her eyes. Kakashi merely cast a glance toward Sasuke.

Sakura looked at Sasuke unbelievably "N-no Sasuke y-you wouldn't have…" but his expression spoke volumes. Sakura raised her hand and slapped Sasuke, and then again, and again, until Kakashi restrained her, she still spat and screamed, "YOU MONSTER!" Sasuke was still too stunned, emotionally shocked, perhaps not really believing himself that he had actually done it.

An ANBU squad and Tsunade soon showed up to confirm the renegade Sasuke had returned with Kakashi, upon being alerted by the two Jounin at the gates of Konoha. Tsunade didn't last long before she fell on her knees weeping, and couldn't help but be reminded of the cursed necklace that hung from his neck.

They held the funeral the next day…

Hundreds of people turned up at the funeral, throughout the years many of the citizens of Konoha had learned that Naruto really wasn't some demon child, while many more still believed the opposite. Tsunade stood beside the coffin with a large picture of Naruto surrounded by many decorative flowers of al shapes sizes and colors.

"Without a doubt I can easily say that everyone in this village knew of Naruto. He was a brave, strong, young shinobi who died in the prime of his life. He was a far stronger person than any I've ever had the honor of meeting, he had an enormous burden to bear his entire life, one that would cripple any normal person," Tsunade began, she heard some murmuring throughout the crowd no doubt wanting her to stop praising the demon child that they were all so lucky to have gone.

"For those of you around before Naruto was born it's no surprise to hear, that Naruto was the bearer of the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox, Which the Yondaime sealed into Naruto when he was born in order to save the Konoha and the Yondaime lost his life in the process, only asking that you would treat Naruto not with fear and loathing, but love and respect, which many of you are guilty of disregarding!" At this point many of the young citizens and ninja who had never been aware of this were shocked and awed. Some of the older citizens began to look down in shame.

"Some of you would call him a monster straight to his face, directly defying the Hokage's order. He was nothing but a demon, a pariah who you looked at with scorn, while your fear and hate was completely unjustified, as Naruto wasn't the demon fox, he only had to suffer the burden of being the carrying the demon with him. Naruto was always Naruto and he was an innocent, that didn't even know he carried the Kyuubi until recently, yet you still looked down upon him. Yet you praised Sasuke Uchiha merely for his bloodline, and heritage! Is it only what bloodline someone is from that matters to you all? What if I were to tell you That Uzumaki Naruto was none other than my own son!" Gasps were heard all around, a major shock to everyone.

"It's true, thirteen years ago when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the Yondaime had no choice but to seal the demon within the child I had left him to take care of, I never thought I could handle being a mother, and so Yondaime adopted him and gave him the family name Uzumaki. The Uzumaki family made the greatest sacrifices in the entire history of the village. And I am ashamed of those of you who avoided him like the plague, or worse, tried to do him harm, out of fear, but I am far more ashamed of myself for having walked out on him all those years ago. Uzumaki Naruto was a great young man, and he will be missed. His dream was to become Hokage, and if it weren't for his tragic death, I'm sure he would have. I only regret that I have so utterly failed him, and for that I am truly and deeply sorry," Tsunade finished beginning to tear up.

Hinata seemed to be affected the most "N-n-Naruto can't be dead, he wouldn't let himself die…not like this…" she murmured to reassure herself.

Kiba picked up on her plea and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Hinata, He's dead you have to face it Naruto is…"

"NARUTO IS NOT DEAD! HE CANT BE DEAD!" Hinata screamed at Kiba attracting the attention of others. She looked at Kiba's face and saw the sadness it held. She couldn't stand to be hear anymore, she walked up to the coffin that held Naruto's body.

She left a flower and said merely, "I know you'll be back…please come back Naruto…" before she walked away unable to stay in this environment any longer.

In another place, unseen by anyone in Konoha…

Naruto looked around unsure of where he was. It was a very strange place, the wall and floor were a light purple color, and were strangely textured, soft and with large bumps here and there. The place was huge he could only see one wall the rest seemed to stretch out into darkness. The strangest thing perhaps were the markings on the wall, a strange insignia that Naruto knew well, the same symbol that had been on his stomach all his life.

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto asked himself quietly. He suddenly became aware of the sound of some people talking. By the sound of it there were at least four. Naruto turned and walked through the darkness for a few minutes searching for the source of the conversation, when he saw the light of a small makeshift lantern. The fire illuminated a square table, with a person on each side, apparently playing cards. He decided to listen in to their conversation while keeping hidden in the shadows.

"…alright I'll wager…my forbidden jutsu scroll, it's got a lot of sentimental value, my father gave it to me."

One of the men said.

It was silent for a moment before another voice said "Full house! Beat that boys!" followed by groaning from all the others at the table.

"You know you've got one hell of a poker face Sarutobi." someone said Naruto perked up at this, and noticed the grey hair of the man sitting with his back to him. But it couldn't be who he thought it was. Still he couldn't help but be curious and began to creep around in the darkness to get to a position in which he could see the mans face. He thought the other people at the table looked somewhat familiar but it was too dim.

Naruto looked at the man and was shocked that it looked exactly like the Hokage. "Hokage-Sama! Is that really you!" Naruto yelled out. All the men at the table suddenly pulled out kunai and stood up.

"Who's there! Show yourself!" The one Naruto suspected to be Sarutobi demanded.

Naruto slowly stepped into the light holding his hands up to show he meant no harm. "It's me Hokage-Sama." he said. Sarutobi put down his kunai, and relaxed some.

"Naruto, how did you get yourself into a place like this." One of the men stood stiff as Sarutobi said that name.

"Where in the hell are we in the first place!" Naruto asked frustrated, waving his hands around.

Sarutobi sighed, "This…is the belly of Shinigami, where we are doomed to stay for eternity." he said sullenly. Another one of the men, a spiky haired blonde, walked up and whispered something to Sarutobi.

Sarutobi nodded and lifted the lantern, "I'd almost forgotten…Naruto I'd like you to meet the Shodaime," he said pointing to one man with long dark hair, Naruto was aghast. "the Nidaime." Sarutobi continued as he pointed to another light colored spiked haired man, adding to Naruto's amazement.

"Finally, this may come as a shock but, this is the Yondaime…He's your father Naruto." Sandaime said bluntly.

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled clearly shocked.

"Perhaps I should have clarified a bit, he's your foster father." Sarutobi said scratching the back of his head embarrassed at his mistake.

Naruto was still a little shaken, this was a lot to handle all at once. "…lets go back a little bit if we are in Shinigami's stomach, does that mean we're…dead?" he asked nervously.

Sarutobi frowned, "Well, not exactly you see, in order to protect Konoha all of us at one point or another either made a pact with Shinigami or were taken as Shinigami's end of the deal. The forbidden sealing jutsu we used, causes the user and the target's souls to be eaten by Shinigami and sealed within his stomach. So we are and we aren't dead…with the exception of the First and Second, who were dead before they were ever sealed. However that leaves you Naruto,"

"What do ya mean that leaves me gramps? Your making me get confused." Naruto said loudly as he indeed, began getting confused.

"What I mean," Sandaime continued taking a few steps closer to Naruto, "Is that you are the only person here, who neither initiated the jutsu or was targeted by it, yet you are here. I can only assume that this is because of the Kyuubi' seal, but if anything the Kyuubi should be here alone, without you."

"…I guess I understand. One thing I don't get though is that, if you are the some of strongest ninja who have ever lived, how come you can't just bust out of here!" Naruto said agitated that the Hokages the people he had strived all his to become one of, didn't have the strength to get out of this predicament.

This time the Yondaime spoke up, "That's the problem, when we made the pact with Shinigami all of us had our chakra molding abilities removed after we were sealed. Attacking the walls of Shinigami's stomach by hand is useless, without chakra it can't be penetrated, and even if we could whose to say it wouldn't heal before you could dig your way out. Although this isn't truly the god of death, he is a formidable demon none the less and we all fell into his trap."

"What do you mean demon? What makes you think this is not the god of death?" Naruto asked confused.

Yondaime pointed towards the large seal on the wall and spoke, "Judging from the characters on that seal it is a demon seal, a strong one at that but nowhere near fit for a supposed god of death."

It was then that Naruto heard a loud booming voice, "**Damn! You foolish boy what have you gotten into now! If only I were free of this cage you'd feel my wrath in full!"**

The Hokages looked at Naruto confused as he seemed to look around for the source of the noise which, unknown to him, they hadn't heard.

"Who said that?" Naruto asked.

"**The Greatest of all demons to walk the land, the nine tailed fox Kyuubi as you know me! Now don't waste time, find a way out of this place immediately! I refuse to let this beast take my power when we are digested!"**

Naruto was confused but the voice had a point, they needed out. "He's right you guys we need to find a way out of here! Just think, there has to be another way out that doesn't need chakra!" he said determined as the Hokage's looked at him awkwardly.

Nine hours later…

Naruto was sitting on the ground thinking with a scowl on his face as the former Hokages played poker. "Give it up kid, ya gotta face it there's no way outta here." The Yondaime said nonchalantly.

Naruto started punching the ground in frustration and anger. "NO DAMN IT! THERE HAS TO BE A WAY OUT OF THIS!" He continued in his furious rampage punching and kicking the wall, yelling punching and kicking some more, telling everyone the contents of Sandaime's poker hand, more hitting, making some shadow clones, even more hitting…_wait a minute shadow clones? _was the thought on everyone minds.

Naruto only realized when he formed a Rasengan between his and his clones hands what he was doing, and looked at the Hokages who stared at him in shock. "I…can still use my chakra!" he cheered.

Soon he was surrounded and cheered on by anxious Hokages as he threw Rasengan after Rasengan at the stomach wall. Naruto stopped, he was panting and his hands had chakra burns on them. The attack's didn't seem to have much effect, after nearly ten minutes of bombarding the wall he'd only made a two foot hole which to his disappointment began to visibly heal quite quickly.

Naruto felt a hand on his shoulder, the Yondaime. "Don't worry Naruto," he said with a smile " you proved us wrong it looks like there very well may be a way out of here. However you're going to need all of our help, and maybe even the help of your demon tenant. Looks like I'm going to have one last apprentice."

Naruto smirked, he was going to have to become strong and he had the best teachers for the job standing right in front of him, asking to teach him.

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How's that for a first chapter? My first non insertion fic, and my only Naruto one so far. Please read and review. I'll try and have a new chapter up soon but it might take me a few weeks. Til next time 


	2. Chapter 2

A sullen dark haired boy walked down a Konoha, trying to ignore the venomous looks people gave him. Sasuke held his head down in shame as he walked, the once proud town messiah reduced to lowliest underhanded pariah. This was what Naruto cursed him to be with his last breath.

People would stare at him disgusted, call him horrible things to his face, spit at him, some seemed to just look at him disappointed. Strangely enough it was the disappointment in the faces of his former comrades that hurt him the most. He couldn't care less what the nameless masses of Konoha called him, but the looks he got from his fellow shinobi like Kakashi, Sakura, Kiba, Lee, and above all Hinata gave him enough shame, guilt, and remorse to last a lifetime. Hinata, he would never forget when he saw her the day of the funeral, and she looked at him with cold eyes and reached for a kunai before shaking her head and dropping her hand to her side once again. He knew what she was thinking at that moment, _Naruto wouldn't want this_.

He continued on his trek back home, although he walked alone, he still had no chance of escape, there were ANBU teams watching him at all times, from the rooftops, and behind every corner. This was the condition for him, to be given the freedom to do as he wanted, instead of having to rot in a prison cell. It was actually the Hokage who suggested this alternative knowing full well how the villagers would react to the traitor.

He did nothing to retaliate when people would insult him or spit on him as they had been; he deserved what he got after all. He began to smirk however, as he thought up a plan, one that would set everything right and have him back on top.

* * *

Back in the belly of the beast…

Naruto sat along with the Yondaime. Naruto looked confused as he asked "Yondaime-Sama… how are you gonna teach me new jutsu if you can't mold chakra to show me?"

The fourth looked at him "Yondaime-Sama? Why so proper all of a sudden? And don't worry I've got it all figured out. You just need to learn this one technique by word of mouth and the rest should come easy!" he said with a grin.

Naruto flashed a foxy grin, "It must be a strong jutsu if it's all I'm gonna need, huh?"

Yondaime smiled, "Nope," Naruto's face fell "It's an almost useless one, in a real battle you'd be dead meat. I'm sure you're familiar to the Yamanaka family and their Shintenshin. The technique I'm going to teach you is sort of similar but it won't let you take control of the opponent's body."

By this point Naruto was really confused, so the Fourth decided to elaborate a little more. "This Jutsu takes you into the mind of whoever you use it against, but they too will be there, so to anyone watching in the outside world it would appear that you are both in a sort of trance. In reality you and your victim are both in their mindscape, where you could communicate, train in our case, or if you were stupid you could try and fight them."

Naruto was still out of the loop and voiced his confusion. "But how come you would have to be a fool to fight them? And how does this help us in the first place!" he yelled.

The fourth frowned, "It's simple Naruto, if you learn the technique you can use it on us Hokages and since you'll be in our minds we can still use jutsu, as the person whose mind you enter would be able to do whatever they could imagine. And second it would be foolish to fight someone on their own mindscape because they could have control over anything they want there."

Naruto nodded apprehensively, "Alright now concentrate and form this seal…" Yondaime started as they officially began Naruto's training.

* * *

In Konoha…

It had been two weeks since Naruto's death. A lone team of ANBU was sent out this night to surround the Uchiha compound. It was dark and pouring rain as one of the squad members heard something in the house, and turned to see the back door he was guarding wide open. He immediately ran over to check it out seeing no signs of Sasuke having left the building.

When he looked through the door the first thing he saw where a pair of red eyes, which he had enough time to guess were the Sharingan. He noticed however that the three Tomoe were connected at the center of the eye. The last thing he heard was a whisper "Tsukiyomi" before he was in a world of mental anguish.

Sasuke examined the man on the ground, and after ensuring that his technique worked he made a seal "Henge!" he whispered as he became an exact duplicate of the unconscious man on the floor. He kneeled down and placed his hands on the man ready to perform a technique he had been working on. The man on the ground poofed into a cloud of smoke and was replaced with an identical copy of an unconscious Sasuke. He had been practicing this modified Henge no jutsu since he came up with the plan, it was elementary to use transformation on another person after practice.

He picked up the communicator on the ground and held it to the side of his face rather than putting it on. "Come in team! I've found the Uchiha unconscious, but he seems to be under some sort of genjutsu! I've spotted someone fleeing the compound he's heading north, I'm in pursuit! I…I think it's Orochimaru!" Sasuke said quickly before he threw a set of kunai and explosive tags along with the communicator. He set them off as he began to run south into the forest.

The ANBU team watched as a huge explosion took out part of the house and their teammate's communication ceased. They rushed into the burning building and seeing Sasuke on the ground picked him up. "I'll take him to the hospital! The rest of you find the one who did this! Head north, don't let him escape, find Daisuke if he's still alive! Go!" The one who picked up Sasuke said. Something seemed wrong about this whole situation but he had no choice but to proceed as they planned if there was a chance of an attack by Orochimaru.

Sasuke continued jumping from branch to branch in the forest, dispelling his Henge. He only needed it to disguise his voice and in case he was spotted, but if he was spotted now his disguise would be useless, heading so far in the opposite of the supposed intruder. Assuming he wasn't caught before he crossed the Konoha border then phase one of his plan was finished. Now all he needed was to find Orochimaru. He would have to travel incognito, after all the last pair of Sharingan eyes would attract the wrong kind of attention.

* * *

Naruto sat on the ground panting, from exhausting his chakra supply, while Yondaime looked at him clearly annoyed. "It's a simple Jutsu Naruto we've been at this for days! You have to learn this before we can even begin to teach you anything practical! What exactly is it that you don't understand!"

"I just don't get it! You're a bad teacher!" Naruto yelled.

Yondaime sighed; although he wouldn't admit it out loud he knew he was pretty bad when it came to teaching jutsu by word of mouth. He could teach almost anything else the shinobi world had to offer but when it came down to jutsus, with hand seals, the right state of mind, and everything else…ugh it was all just too complicated to put into words. He needed visuals for he himself to learn and that's what he needed to teach someone else. "Let's stop for now, it's obvious we're not making progress with this right now." he said as he walked back over to where the other Hokages were standing.

Sandaime frowned as Yondaime walked over to him. "The boy learns your Rasengan in record time and yet he can't get this jutsu to save his life," Sarutobi began. "If only there was a way around this…"

The fourth Hokage sighed once again "There is a way…" he said. Sarutobi looked at him surprised. "However it is my absolute last resort, but as things are going it may be our only option."

The third frowned, "Indeed this is a dilemma, but I'm sure Naruto will learn in time, there's no reason to fret." he reassured. The fourth didn't look convinced but nodded anyway.

Suddenly Yondaime's head snapped up and he pulled a kunai from his pouch holding it ready in front of him. The third followed suit as they stared into the darkness of the endless stomach they occupied. Naruto had noticed the sudden stare in his direction and looked around nervous and confused. A kunai was launched from the fourths hand, and missed Naruto by mere inches.

Naruto was frozen stiff "H-h-hey! What the hell are you doing!" he yelled. He then heard a loud squealing sound.

"NARUTO TURN AROUND!" the third yelled. Naruto whirled around to see two massive monstrosities. Standing ten feet tall at least, the first of the two was black as ash, looking to be covered in armor or some hard shell rather than skin. There were large cracks in the ebony hide, blood red in color as it seemed to be raw muscle and literally dripping crimson. It's thick armored shell extending up above its head forming two long horns and down past its legs and arms to make long claws and blades that jutted out from the elbows and out of the ends of the fingers and toes. Its eyes were yellow slits that dripped blood, and its maw was filled with rows of razor sharp and very thick, almost clear, teeth that resembled broken shards of glass. Perhaps the most noticeable feature was that it had no stomach, only a hole clear through the beast with a green flame burning inside.

Its counterpart was much the same only its hide was very pale white. It waved its hand around in the air squealing at the kunai jammed into a red unprotected section in its massive palm. It grabbed the kunai with two fingers and ripped it out.

"**HEH HEH HEH LOOKS LIKE WE'VE GOT SOME HUMANS, MASTER WILL BE PLEASED, BUT THESE MORTALS COULDN'T BE THE THREAT HE SENT US TO LOOK FOR.**" The black one said as it took a step forward.

"**THEY SEEM STRONG ENOUGH…BUT MASTER'S SEAL WILL HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THAT, HE WILL BE GREATFUL WHEN HE TAKES THEIR POWER FOR HIS OWN. DO YOU THINK HE'LL NOTICE IF WE TAKE A COUPLE FOR OUR SNACKS!**" the white one said stalking forward as well.

"HEY YOU BASTARDS," the two giants looked down at the small blonde that had until now gone unnoticed "If you two take another step forward the last thing you'll ever snack on will be my kunai!"

The two beasts looked at each other then at once burst into laughter. The black one deliberately took one step forward. "**WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DO NOW LITTLE…,**" he stopped as a kunai was imbedded in one of its eyes. "**AGGGHHHH!**" it screamed. It swiped its claws at Naruto who jumped and ran up its arm to its head before kicking the kunai deeper into the monster. It screamed more as Naruto jumped back and it pulled the kunai from its eye.

It pointed its dark claws toward the Hokages "**TENMA,** **YOU GET TO WORK ON THEM, I'LL TAKE CARE OF THIS RUNT!**" he snarled.

The white one, Tenma apparently, smirked "**ARE YOU SO SURE YOU CAN HANDLE THIS BIG BAD MORTAL ALL BY YOURSELF?**" it turned around after a one eyed glare from its counterpart and stalked over to the Hokages.

Almost before Naruto could react the beast raked it's claws through the air catching him on the arm as he jumped back to avoid it. Naruto winced in pain and realized it was time to get serious he formed the seal for his specialty jutsu. "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu!" five clones surrounded the demon as it looked around in curiosity. It brought its hands together and a wicked looking long dark katana burst into existence.

It twisted its waist and swung in a complete circle spinning on its heel, dispersing the five clones. Naruto wasted no time in jumping up at the beast's head kunai held out. When the kunai struck it right between the eyes it left nothing more than a small scratch in its armored exterior. Naruto didn't have time to be surprised as he was lanced through the shoulder with a katana. He was held up high his arm impaled by the blade painfully, as he looked into the grinning face of his captor.

Naruto quickly forced as much chakra as he could into the hand that held his kunai and drove it into the blade sticking through his shoulder, it shattered at the point of contact effectively dropping Naruto to the ground and letting him pull the broken blade out of his arm. Naruto jumped back holding the longest piece of the shattered katana avoiding a kick aimed at him. He scanned his enemy searching for a point of attack, and smirked running forward again. When the beast made a grab for him he ducked under and slashed at an unprotected red spot that circled its entire shoulder. Its monstrous arm fell to the ground. Naruto dropped the blade, his hands bleeding from holding the shattered weapon.

He looked up to see massive jaws descending from above and dodged only to be caught under a massive hand that was easily bigger than his whole chest pinning him to the ground. His ribs were being crushed as the creature pushed all of its weight onto the boy. "**I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU SUFFER FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME!**" he pushed down harder on Naruto and he yelled in pain "**THAT'S RIGHT SCREAM! SCREAM AND CRY FOR YOUR LIFE LIKE THE PATHETIC MORTAL YOU ARE!**"

Naruto closed his eyes, and the Oni smiled until he saw the boys hand reach up and grab his wrist, feeling an intense pressure. Naruto spoke, "YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO'S…PATHETIC!" he finished as his eyes snapped open and were revealed to be red slits. With one arm he lifted the demon off of him and tossed it through the air. It crashed a dozen feet away.

"**I-IMPOSSIBLE…**" was the only thing it said before Naruto sprang forward with a red Rasengan burning in his hand. He landed on the beast's forehead and drilled the chakra sphere into its head, shattering its armor and continuing through. The beast fell limp and the fire in its abdomen went out.

The damage to his arm visibly healing itself, Naruto turned around to see the Hokages. It was surprising to him that they all stood around a decapitated ivory beast. To have defeated it so quickly without the use of chakra explained why they were the greatest of all Konoha ninja. Naruto's eyes faded back to blue and he made his way over to the others.

"What the hell are these things!" Naruto asked kicking at the dead creature.

The third donned a serious face "My guess would be that Shinigami felt your escape attempt and sent these lesser demons out to take care of the threat. It's very likely that if I'm right, more will come soon and they may be stronger than these two…"

Yondaime sighed, "Naruto I'd like to speak to you in private." he said before he grabbed Naruto by the wrist and pulled him away from the group. Naruto ripped his hand out of the man's grasp.

"What's this all about Hokage?" Naruto asked, aggravated at being pulled around like some kind of puppy.

"Naruto, I believe that you might not be able to learn that technique in time…but there may be one other way…" Yondaime said sullenly.

Naruto looked curious, "What are you talking about?"

Yondaime looked down sadly. "You see Naruto…my deal with Shinigami was a little different. He was unable to eat the soul of Kyuubi as it was, he would have been killed had he directly pulled out Kyuubi's soul, and he would be the one to get eaten most likely. Instead he had to pull Kyuubi into me until I could find someone to seal him in. I had to seal him into you Naruto as Shinigami would have collected my soul either way and we would just have an equally powerful Kyuubi wreaking havoc in my body. The only one I felt I could seal him into was you, my adopted son. The seal took me hours to complete, and when I did finish my body and Kyuubi's soul were sealed inside of you. I still have a connection to my body within the seal, but I have no idea what the will happen to me. I may never be able to come back, or I could be eaten by the Kyuubi, the possibilities go on."

Naruto looked hesitant for a moment. "H-Hokage-Sama y-you don't need to…I mean, I'll learn the technique, I'll try extra hard this time I promise!" he said, his blue eyes showing concern.

He was hushed by the fourth. "No Naruto…it's too late, now that we know there may be danger. We have to act immediately…I'm afraid there truly is no other way."

Naruto looked panicked now. "You can't do this Hokage!…the Third would never let you! I won't let you…" The fourth grabbed Naruto's shoulder.

"Please…call me dad." he said curtly before he thrust his open palm into the boy's stomach. The boy was stunned and had the wind knocked out of him as the markings on his stomach glowed brightly and with a flash the Fourth Hokage was no more.

Naruto dropped to his knees a sharp pain in his abdomen, but an even sharper pain in his heart. One of the men he looked up to most since before he even entered the academy although he had never met him. The man he recently found would have raised him if it weren't for his self sacrifice to seal the Kyuubi. The one man who had the answers to the questions he had, about who his real parents were, why they had given him up, why he had to live his life alone. The dam broke and twin rivers flowed down from the blue orbs that were Naruto's eyes and he let out a yell of pain. He had lost his father.

The other Hokage's heard his scream and ran over, but Naruto paid them no heed. He remembered what his father had about what could happen, and decided to take things into his own hands. Even if he couldn't ever see the man face to face again, he would make sure he was safe so that he could see him in the same way he could see the fox. Naruto focused and descended into himself, to the seal.

* * *

In the realm of the seal

Naruto ran through the long corridor in murky water only two inches high. As he reached the end of the hall he saw the cage of the Kyuubi. As he approached he saw the demon itself, with the fourth Hokage trapped underneath its giant claws. "LET HIM GO KYUUBI!" Naruto yelled.

The Kyuubi turned its head toward Naruto, "**I WAS EXPECTING YOU BRAT,**" the beast began with a smirk "**NO HARM WILL COME TO THIS MAN, IF YOU ARE WILLING TO COOPERATE.**"

Naruto looked angry "What do you want?" he asked.

"**TEAR OFF THAT SEAL ON THIS CAGE AND HE'LL GO FREE. BUT IF NOT YOU'LL SEE WHAT HAPPENS!**" The beast said with its smirk still in place.

The Yondaime struggled underneath its paw, "NARUTO! Don't listen to him you've got to…" he started only to be interrupted by an enraged fox.

"**SILENCE!**" The Kyuubi bellowed and the fourth found that although his mouth moved no noise could be heard coming from it.

Naruto had on a superior grin as he called the Kyuubi's bluff. "You won't do anything! We need him to get out of this place and if he dies we both will once those demons come back again. I'm not gonna take off that seal and let you escape."

The Kyuubi scowled "**BUT THERE'S ONE THING YOU'RE FORGETTING! EVEN IF WE DO GET OUT OF HERE I'M STILL TRAPPED IN THIS HELL! I'VE COME TO REALIZE THAT I HAVE NOTHING TO LIVE FOR HERE IN THIS PURGATOTY AND YET DEATH, TRUE DEATH IS A WILD CARD. WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN? IT COULD BE GOOD OR IT COULD BE BAD AND I'VE BEGUN TO THINK THAT IT'S NOT SUCH A RISKY GAMBLE. IF WE TRULY DIE THAN SO WHAT? IF I COULD GET MY REVENGE ON THE HUMAN WHO SEALED ME I'M SATISFIED. ON THE OTHER HAND IF I COULD BE UNSEALED THAT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER AND I COULD FORGET ABOUT REVENGE! BUT IT SEEMS YOU WANT TO LEARN THE HARD WAY JUST HOW SERIOUS I AM!"**

He punctuated his statement letting his red demonic energy leak out of the cage and begin to form itself into a body of similar size to Naruto. It was transparent red, and had a bulgy outline that appeared human but had one tail extending from where a human's lower spine would be, and long ears atop the head. Aside from its clawed fingers it had no other notable physical features, no mouth, no nose, no eyes or hair, just a mass of red chakra. It stood in front of Naruto for a moment then crouched low.

Naruto got ready, creating a clone next to him. They quickly formed a Rasengan between their hands ready to go all out. "I can overcome anything you can dish out from in there you bastard!" he mocked.

The crouched figure held out an arm, as purple energy bubbled out from the mass of red, molding itself into a sphere swirling around all the while. Red chakra encased the purple, and the figure now held its own demonic Rasengan.

The Kyuubi watched with interest "**WELL THEN…OVERCOME YOURSELF!**" he exclaimed.

Naruto was shocked how could he beat himself? Especially when it had the Kyuubi's potent chakra. He knew it couldn't really be him, but then how could it know how to perform his greatest technique? He dropped his thoughts as he ran forward his demonic doppelganger doing the same. Their Rasengans clashed. They kept pushing against each other, as Naruto began to panic. The demonic Rasengan was stronger than his own; he needed to back away fast.

He almost forgot about his shadow clone as it ran forward and kicked at the evil replica. Knocking it back slightly and making it dispel its Rasengan. It moved its hands up in front of its chest and instantly an exact double stood next to it. Quickly it ran towards Naruto's clone and the two began to fight using taijutsu, each attack being dodged or parried by both clones.

Naruto had to take out the clone first as he didn't want to face two of these things at once. With one quick swipe of its claw-like fingers the real Naruto clone was gone. The evil clone soon disappeared too as Naruto hit it in the head with a kunai before it saw him. Quickly turning around Naruto paled as he spotted five of the demonic clones almost completely surrounding him. They ran in on him all at once and he was kicked from every direction and launched into the air, only to find another above him descending with its leg out. Its heel contacted Naruto's face and smashed him into the ground.

Uzumaki Rendan? How could it possibly have known that one? Naruto had never even contacted the Kyuubi before he used that technique. His face burned but he wrote that off as being from the impact to his face.

The clones dispersed leaving only the first demonic copy. Naruto got up quickly and ran in with a punch, but when red looked like he was about to block Naruto threw out a kick instead, catching the thing in its chest knocking it back against the cage. Naruto noted quickly his smoking sandal and realized just how much his face really burned; looking at his clothes he saw some scorch marks as well.

Red began to stir and Naruto knew he had to do something fast, and hand to hand combat was not an option; he had to avoid physical contact at all costs. He again made a clone and created a Rasengan before his opponent could and ran in aiming straight for the things head. It blocked with both arms but the Rasengan ate through them and its head in a matter moments.

He took a step back and relaxed a bit, he turned his head to the Kyuubi "Is that all you got bastard!" he yelled at the fox after taking a moment to catch his breath. The fox only smirked as Naruto heard something to his left.

"…**Urusei!…Taikutsushinogi**"(1) it sounded like a gurgled bastardization of Naruto's own voice. Naruto was shocked when he looked back to see the red thing standing again it's head and arms forming once again, but this time it had a mouth, it resembled a mouth that is. It looked more like some sort of cage, although it had its mouth open strands of the red essence were still attaching the upper and lower lip here and there.

Two gashes appeared a few inches above the mouth, and slowly opened to reveal deep blue eyes like Naruto's own, only the pupils were vertical slits. Naruto looked lower to see two tails waving back and forth.

It wasted no more time as it snarled and slammed its claws into the ground, creating a long crack leading towards Naruto who leapt in the air. Out from the crack rose a monstrous red clawed hand that swooped up Naruto and held him tight. Naruto screamed as it burned him. The creature smirked as it squeezed tighter.

Naruto was in a tight spot. He couldn't think of a way out, but he was so sure Kyuubi wanted to stay alive. Why the sudden change? It must have been a trick, but then how could he explain the situation he was in right now. If it weren't a trick why was Yondaime still alive? None of this made sense. If only the fourth could help him, he thought desperately.

It was then that Naruto heard a loud crack. He turned his head to see into the cage. "NARUTO!" it was the Yondaime, he was clearly still stuck but how could he speak again? "Don't fall for this Naruto! This is only your mind! You have control over what happens here!" the fourth yelled.

Naruto thought about that for a moment. He had hardly remembered that this wasn't his physical body, from all the excitement. He never even thought that he had control here however. This was the seal right? Not his mind. He didn't think about it any longer as he looked at his captor. The clawed hand released him seemingly unwillingly for the red imitation. Immediately it was surrounded by bars, sealed in a cage. Naruto smirked as things began to work to his will as he concentrated. The fourth suddenly appeared next to him out of nowhere leaving the Kyuubi's claws empty.

"**RRRGGG! YOU RUINED ALL MY FUN! YOU SNITCH!**" The Kyuubi said annoyed. Both humans present looked at him curiously but Naruto decided he had had enough, and sent the both of them far away from the fox.

Naruto and the fourth were in a dark place that resembled the stomach of Shinigami. The fourth sighed in relief, "Good thing you began to figure things out, any longer and the Kyuubi may have devoured my soul!" Naruto looked embarrassed and scratched the back of his head, he knew that he hadn't really figured it out he just sort of wished that his father could help and the silence was lifted, he wasn't about to tell him though.

"Anyway now we can finally begin the training!" Yondaime exclaimed happily, Naruto fell flat on his face. Wasn't this man on the verge of having his soul eaten not twenty seconds ago? How could he take that so lightly?

* * *

(1) It means something along the lines of "Shut up! It's killing time!" Don't expect me to write things in Japanese much except with Jutsu names. I just felt that the evil clone should speak Japanese, don't know why… but I can tell you that chances are he'll be back.

AUTHORS NOTE

Also in case there was any confusion, the people in Shinigami's stomach are all spirit bodies as all of their real bodies are in the world of the living buried, entombed, in a mausoleum, what have you. When Naruto goes into the seal to help Yondaime he is a mental body inside his own soul. Hope that doesn't confuse you guys too much.

I'm thinking that maybe I should get a beta reader, which I've never done before, but I think having someone to check everything over for mistakes, out of character-ness, and to make sure the chapters don't just plain suck before I put them up, would be a good idea.

Concerning the plot of the story and people escaping, I have two ideas, for when the time comes that I'm hard pressed to decide between as they both drastically change the story. If I can't make up my mind when the time comes I might ask for the reviewers' opinions…but until then their secrets!

Hope you guys liked this chapter

'Til next time


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